How To Practice Music

Fiddling with life and learning with the occasional dad joke thrown in…

 

 

Foxhunter’s Jig – Fiddle Raga

Here’s a short performance of an Irish tune called Foxhunter’s Jig – Fiddle Raga. Thanks for reading, and thanks for making music…

Re-post: Play It Casual

What do you do when you realize you’re struggling? Do you keep pounding away at that challenging thing? Or do you change your approach? In this post, I suggest a practice called “Play it casual” which will help you to let go of mental obstacles so you can focus on the task at hand: learning … Continued

Origin of the Fall Practice Challenge

The Fall Practice Challenge was not invented out of thin air. Like good ideas (philosophy, inventions, fiddle tunes 🎻), it represents one step in an evolution of thinking. A few years ago, I heard about something called the 21-day No Complaints Challenge in an article by Tim Ferriss. The challenge was originally designed by a … Continued

What I’m practicing now…

Here’s some things I’m currently practicing. I’m sharing this as part of the Fall Practice Challenge 2020. My intention is for you go deep with whatever you’re doing: learning to bow on an open string, practicing vibrato, improvising, working on 4th finger, etc. How can it be fun and productive at the same time? For … Continued

The Chromatic Scale Will Help You Slide

A student named Abee was taking my recent lesson on Sliding The Left-hand Fingers. In the video, I mention how the chromatic scale can help with sliding. More on that in a minute. First, this scale contains all 12 tones of western harmony. There is only one chromatic scale. However, I find it’s useful break it … Continued

Learning Music as a Spiritual Practice

Most people learn an instrument because they want to have fun. They want to do something enjoyable. Others may thrive on the sense of accomplishment. It’s important to constantly return to the joy and fun of learning. But there are some other amazing things you’ll pick up along the way. You get better at learning … Continued

Re-post: 20-minute scale practice

You can use this in conjunction with other routines, or simply as a warm-up before playing in any situation.   20-minute scale practice 30-minute tune practice 30-minute tune practice: Kerfunken Jig 35-minute tune review   Thanks for reading, and thanks for making music…

Re-post: Fortnite Dance – Step It Up

My friend and student Toby and I recently made a lesson on Fortnite Dance – Step It Up. Click here to take the lesson. The melody is actually just the B part to Swallowtail Jig.    I recently updated an older post on this called Fortnite Dance – Step It Up. Thanks for reading, and … Continued

Again

“That’s the idea. Just play it again.” “Tune up your first finger…now do it again.” “Good! Again…” I say the word “again” a lot during lessons. I’ll say it again right now. I’ve noticed a certain tendency in most students: Once they can make it through something, they stop playing and wait for the next … Continued